The
Federal Government on Tuesday reacted to former President Olusegun
Obasanjo’s ‘Fulanisation’ comments, describing it as deeply offensive
and patently divisive.

The
Federal Government which also said that the “indiscreet comments are
far below the status of an elder statesman,” said Obasanjo will do well
by withdrawing the statement and render apology to Nigerians.

This
was contained in a statement issued in Abuja by the Minister of
Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, adding that “it was particularly
tragic that a man who fought to keep Nigeria one is the same one seeking
to exploit the country’s fault lines to divide it in the twilight of
his life.”

Obasanjo
had at the weekend claimed that Boko Haram and marauding Fulani
herdsmen were out to Islamize and ‘Fulanize’ Nigeria and the entire West
Africa.

But
the government descried that Obasanjo was imputing ethno-religious
motive to Boko Haram and ISWAP, who it said are terrorist organizations
pure and simple, and care little about ethnicity or religion when
perpetrating their senseless killings and destruction.

“Since
the Boko Haram crisis, which has been simmering under the watch of
Obasanjo, boiled over in 2009, the terrorist organization has killed
more Muslims than adherents of any other religion, blown up more mosques
than any other houses of worship and is not known to have spared any
victim on the basis of their ethnicity.

It is therefore absurd to say
that Boko Haram and its ISWAP variant have as their goal the
‘Fulanisation and Islamisation’ of Nigeria, West Africa or Africa,”
Mohammed said.

He
said President Buhari put to rest the mis-characterization of Boko
Haram as an Islamic organization when he said, in his inaugural speech
in 2015, that “Boko Haram is a mindless, godless group who are as far
away from Islam as one can think of”.

The
Minister said Obasanjo’s comments are therefore “as insensitive and
mischievous as they are as offensive and divisive” in a multi-ethnic and
multi-religious country like Nigeria, wondering whether there is no
limit to how far the former President will go in throwing poisonous
darts at his perceived political enemies.

He
said Obasanjo’s prescriptions for ending the Boko Haram/ISWAP crisis,
which include seeking assistance outside the shores of Nigeria, are
coming several years late, as President Buhari has done that and more
since assuming office, hence the phenomenal success he has recorded in
tackling the terrorists.

“Shortly
after assuming office in 2015, President Buhari’s first trips outside
the country were to rally the support of Nigeria’s neighbours – Benin,
Cameroon, Chad and Niger – for the efforts to battle the terrorists. The
President also rallied the support of the international community,
starting with the G7, and then the US, France and the UN.

“That
explains the massive degrading of Boko Haram, which has since lost its
capacity to carry out the kind of spectacular attacks for which it
became infamous, and the recovery of every inch of captured Nigerian
territory from the terrorists,” Mohammed said.

The
Minister called on the former President, whom he said took bullets for
Nigeria’s unity, not to allow personal animosity to override his love
for a united Nigeria, saying it will not be out of place if he withdraws
his unfortunate statement and apologizes to Nigerians.